Lebanese صارṣār is both a change-of-state verb and an event verb: القهوة صارت باردة “the coffee got cold,” شو صار؟ “what happened?” It also anchors elapsed duration in صارلي ساعة ناطر “I've been waiting for an hour.” These uses share a core idea: a new situation has come into existence.
Morphologically, صار belongs to the ā-type hollow paradigm. Its perfect alternates between long ṣār- and short ṣir-, while its nonpast and command use ṣīr-. Do not infer one stem mechanically from the English translations become, happen, or have been.
Perfect paradigm: ṣār- versus ṣir-
Third-person forms retain long ā. First- and second-person consonantal endings select the short stem ṣir-.
| Person | Form | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| أنا | صرت | ṣirt |
| إنت | صرت | ṣirt |
| إنتي | صرتي | ṣirte |
| هو | صار | ṣār |
| هي | صارت | ṣārit |
| نحنا | صرنا | ṣirna |
| إنتو | صرتوا | ṣirto |
| هني | صاروا | ṣāro |
صرت مسؤول عن الفريق من أول الشهر.
ṣirt masʾūl ʿan el-farīʾ min awwal esh-shaher.
I became responsible for the team at the beginning of the month. (professional; 1sg short perfect stem)
الولاد صاروا أطول من بيهن.
el-wlād ṣāro aṭwal min bayyon.
The children have become taller than their father. (informal; 3pl long perfect stem)
b-imperfect and bare imperfect
The b-imperfect describes recurring changes, general consequences, and what normally happens. The bare form follows رح, modals, and other licensors.
| Person | b-imperfect | Bare imperfect |
|---|---|---|
| أنا | بصير bṣīr | صير ṣīr |
| إنت | بتصير btṣīr | تصير tṣīr |
| إنتي | بتصيري btṣīre | تصيري tṣīre |
| هو | بيصير byṣīr | يصير yṣīr |
| هي | بتصير btṣīr | تصير tṣīr |
| نحنا | منصير mnṣīr | نصير nṣīr |
| إنتو | بتصيروا btṣīro | تصيروا tṣīro |
| هني | بيصيروا byṣīro | يصيروا yṣīro |
شو بيصير إذا انقطعت الكهربا وقت العرض؟
shū byṣīr iza inʾaṭaʿit el-kahraba waʾt el-ʿareḍ?
What happens if the power goes out during the presentation? (neutral; general consequence)
رح تصيري أرتح بس تتعودي عالشغل الجديد.
raḥ tṣīre artaḥ bass titʿawwade ʿash-shoghol el-zhdīd.
You'll feel more comfortable once you get used to the new job. (informal; feminine bare form after رح)
For a single completed event, use perfect صار, not habitual بيصير merely because English says happened.
Imperative and active participle
The commands are صيرṣīr, صيريṣīre, and صيرواṣīro. They are grammatically complete but semantically restricted: speakers use them in directives such as “be serious,” “be patient,” or “become more organized,” not as a command meaning “happen.”
The active participle is صاير masculine, صايرة feminine, and صايرين plural. It presents a resultant tendency or an ongoing situation; شو صاير؟ is the everyday “what's going on?”
| Function | Masculine | Feminine | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| imperative | صير ṣīr | صيري ṣīre | صيروا ṣīro |
| active participle | صاير ṣāyer | صايرة ṣāyra | صايرين ṣāyrīn |
صير صريح معي، في شي مضايقك؟
ṣīr ṣarīḥ maʿe, fī shi mḍāyʾak?
Be honest with me—is something bothering you? (informal command to one man)
شو صاير بالشارع؟ ليش كل هالعجقة؟
shū ṣāyer bish-shēriʿ? lēsh kill hal-ʿazhʾa?
What's going on in the street? Why is there all this traffic? (informal discourse question)
هي صايرة أهدى من وقت بلشت تتمرن.
hiyye ṣāyra ahda min waʾet ballashet titmarran.
She has become calmer since she started exercising. (informal; feminine result-state participle)
Participial negation normally uses مش: مش صاير شي “nothing is going on / happening.” Finite event negation uses ما صار شي “nothing happened.”
Change-of-state predicates
صار links a subject to the state it enters. The predicate can be an adjective, noun, location-like state, or fuller phrase. The verb agrees with the changing subject.
القهوة صارت باردة، بس بعدها طيبة.
el-ʾahwe ṣārit bārde, bass baʿda ṭayybe.
The coffee got cold, but it still tastes good. (informal; feminine change of state)
الغرفة الصغيرة صارت مكتب بعد الترميم.
el-ghorfe ṣ-zghīre ṣārit maktab baʿd et-tarmīm.
The small room became an office after the renovation. (neutral; nominal result)
English become often sounds formal, while Lebanese صار is entirely ordinary. Depending on the predicate, natural translations include got, became, turned, or simply is now.
Event, development, and discourse uses
Bare شو صار؟ asks about a completed event. شو عم بيصير؟ asks what is unfolding now. وين صار الطلب؟ asks how far an expected process or item has got, not literally where the verb “became.”
شو صار مع الزبون يلي كان ناطر المدير؟
shū ṣār maʿ ez-zabūn yalle kēn nāṭer el-mdīr?
What happened with the customer who was waiting for the manager? (professional conversation)
صار في عطل بالنظام واضطرينا نوقف التسجيل.
ṣār fī ʿoṭol bin-niẓām w-iḍṭarrēna nwaʾʾef et-taszhīl.
A fault developed in the system, and we had to stop registration. (professional; صار في introduces a new event-state)
With a following bare imperfect, صار can mark the onset of a repeated or extended activity: صار يحكي أسرع “he started speaking faster / came to speak faster.” This is not translated as English became to.
بعد الدورة صار يكتب الإيميلات بثقة أكبر.
baʿd ed-dawra ṣār yiktob el-īmēlāt b-thiʾa akbar.
After the course, he started writing emails with greater confidence. (professional; onset plus bare imperfect)
Elapsed time with صارلـ
صار + لـ-suffix + duration measures how long a state or activity has continued up to the reference point. The suffix identifies the person affected or whose clock is being measured.
| Person | Form | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| me | صارلي | ṣārle |
| you masculine/feminine | صارلك | ṣārlak / ṣārlik |
| him | صارله | ṣārlo |
| her | صارلها | ṣārla |
| us | صارلنا | ṣārlna |
| you plural | صارلكن | ṣārlkon |
| them | صارلهن | ṣārlon |
صارلنا شهرين ساكنين بهالحي.
ṣārlna shahrēn sāknīn b-hal-ḥayy.
We've been living in this neighborhood for two months. (informal; duration plus participle)
صارله ساعة عم بيحاول يحجز أونلاين.
ṣārlo sēʿa ʿam byḥēwel yiḥzhiz online.
He's been trying to book online for an hour. (informal; elapsed time plus progressive)
These suffixes are not direct objects. صار remains intransitive; لـ marks the affected person or duration holder. Similarly, شو صارله؟ means “what happened to him?” rather than “what happened him?”
Dialogue: event and current result
وين صار طلب الصيانة؟ صارلن أسبوع آخدينه.
wēn ṣār ṭalab eṣ-ṣiyēne? ṣārlon osbūʿ ākhdīno.
Nour: What's happened with the maintenance request? They've had it for a week. (professional dialogue; process status and elapsed time)
صار جاهز، ورح يبعتوه اليوم قبل الضهر.
ṣār zhēhez, w-raḥ yibʿatū l-yōm ʾabel eḍ-ḍoher.
Rami: It's ready now, and they'll send it today before noon. (professional dialogue; completed change and future action)
Common Mistakes
Keeping the long vowel before -t
❌ أنا صارت مسؤول عن المشروع.
Incorrect agreement and stem — first-person perfect is صرت ṣirt.
✅ صرت مسؤول عن المشروع هالشهر.
ṣirt masʾūl ʿan el-mashrūʿ hash-shaher.
I became responsible for the project this month.
Keeping b- after رح
❌ رح بيصير الجو أبرد بالليل.
Incorrect — رح selects bare يصير.
✅ رح يصير الجو أبرد بعد الغروب.
raḥ yṣīr el-zhaww abrad baʿd el-ghorūb.
The weather will get colder after sunset.
Copying English “happen to” as a direct object
❌ شو صاره مبارح؟
Incorrect — an affected person is introduced with لـ or مع, not a direct object suffix.
✅ شو صارله مبارح بعد الاجتماع؟
shū ṣārlo mbēreḥ baʿd el-izhtimēʿ?
What happened to him yesterday after the meeting?
Omitting the duration-holder suffix
❌ أنا صار ساعتين ناطر.
Incorrect in the target construction — attach لـ plus the person: صارلي.
✅ صارلي ساعتين ناطر جوابهن.
ṣārle sēʿtēn nāṭer zhawēbon.
I've been waiting for their answer for two hours.
Key Takeaways
صار alternates ṣār- / ṣir- / ṣīr- across its paradigm. It marks entry into a state, reports events, introduces new situations with صار في, and marks activity onset before a bare imperfect. Its participle صاير presents a current result or situation, while صارلـ + duration measures an ongoing interval. It takes no direct object; affected people enter through لـ or مع.
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